Nov 1, 2024
The first quarterly report from the North American Retail Accelerator (NARA) project has been finalised, and the early results are heartening, hinting at the market’s potential.
The report covers the period from the project’s launch on 1 July until the end of September. As the project is a joint effort from multiple parties, any mention of a company in the report is kept simply as “a company”.
The main areas of initial focus for the five venison exporters included in the project – namely Alliance, Duncan NZ, First Light, Mountain River and Silver Fern Farms – were retail expansion, new product development, and consumer awareness and education.
The project’s first quarter saw new regional distributors and 17 new retailers added, for greater market exposure for New Zealand venison, as well as further work into certification for regenerative agriculture in the name of bolstering the provenance of New Zealand venison and leading farming practices.
"While it is early days yet, the initial signs are encouraging,” says Deer Industry New Zealand CEO Rhys Griffiths. “What’s great to see is the level of sharing and collaboration among our exporters. Obviously commercial sensitivities are respected, but our exporters have really bought in for the greater good of establishing a stronger foothold in a key growth market for New Zealand venison.”
As this is a collaborative programme, there is a component of work that DINZ will lead, while the export companies are also free (and expected) to continue to operate in the North American market as per their own strategic direction.
Some areas that were highlighted as potential areas for DINZ to lead were the creation of an overarching awareness campaign featuring the provenance and nutritional benefits of New Zealand venison – which could be a perfect opportunity to utilise the Nature’s Superpower brand further – and to facilitate the acquisition of market research data, which could be shared among the export companies.
The upcoming US election was raised in the report as a situation to monitor, as was the long-term risk of the US growing their farmed venison industry, but otherwise it is full steam ahead as we move into the programme’s second quarter.
